Concept of God in Jainism

God is the integral part of Jain religion. As religion is considered to be a belief, and the belief is more or less concerned with an ever-living God, a divine mind and will ruling the universe, is holding moral relations with man-kind. It has been supposing that there is something in human structure which prompts man heavenwards. Worship, the most important action of man is closely entangled with religion and God. The philosophy of worship implies that the God must be the highest and infinite being greater then whom nothing can be conceived by the worshipper. God is essentially a transcendent Being, beyond the ordinary means of knowing ordinary things. But, man has inner urge to know God. Therefore, man stands in need of some sort of promptings through God and God reveals himself through many ways. Worship is one of them.

Revelation means bringing into light what was hidden before. God, of course is said to be a hidden entity. He can neither be known through perception nor inference. Then, how can He be known? The answer is through revelation. Religious scriptures, Angels, Prophets,, dreams and vision, meditation and trance are some modes of revelation.

Attributes of God : God is a super sensuous entity, and supreme ‘satta’ of religion. It is the sub-stratum of all things. It may be considered as a ‘dravya’, which possesses certain properties. It is also considered that God is unknown and unknowable, even then, it is supposed that some attributes of God may be explained not for limiting the unlimited God but only for the sake of solving the humanistic desire or urge. Metaphysically, God has the attributes of unity, spirituality, omnipotence, eternity, immutability, absoluteness etc. Religiously or ethically speaking, God is conceived to be a person, a creator, preserver and destroyer.

God and Jain religion : Perhaps, Jainism is one of the oldest religions of the world. The concept of God, an important part of religion is explained by Jainas in a different manner. Here, God is super soul and this superiority can be achieved by any soul of this world. God of Jainas is divine but not a creator, destroyer or preserver. It ha infinite knowledge, vision, power and bliss. He is free from the bondage of body and action. He is independent and is established in his own nature. He is the supreme entity and lives on the abode of Siddhasita (Moksha) e.g. those who have become ‘siddha’ or proven. Each and every soul of this world can attain the status of God, when a jiva achieves the status of supreme soul (parampada). He does not get born any more, because God is free from death and birth. Karma, is the root cause if all miseries and God of Jainas is free from karma. Hence, God is free from all passions and is eternally good. According to Jainism, God is the name of spiritual progress from manava (human being) to mahamanava (super human), from sansari atma (mundane soul) to paramatma (super soul); from Jana (ordinary living being) to Jina (victorious being); from bandhan-grasta atma (bonded soul) to kevali (free soul). Hence, the God of Jainas is complete, perfect, pure, eternal, infinite omniscient and omnipotent. If one tries to philosophies God and God’s attributes, he falls into contradictions and errors and the result is nothing but confusion. Apart from this fact, attempts of human being in this direction have been continuous and these have enriched the ideas and thoughts concerned with God.

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Author : Dr. Rajan Kumar, Reader in Applied Philosophy, MJP Rohilkhand
University, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh

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